Archive for the ‘welcome’ Category

Many of you have written in the past months wondering what’s taken me so long to update somethingwithin.com. You missed reading my inspirational editorials. To tell you the truth, I missed writing them.

But it dawned on me at the close of last year that it was time to make a change. It was time for me as a woman in ministry, a scholar who’s written about religion, gender, and pop culture, and as someone who’s written books on inner healing that it’s important that I add my voice to those trying to make sense of the things taking place in our broader society. What does it matter if I’m a woman of faith if I’m silent about what I see and perceive are those luminous moments when things are more than they seem? Even Josiah the seventh century king of Judah recognized that there are times when it’s perilous to ignore the instincts and wisdom of women. He sent a diplomatic envoy into Jerusalem to seek out the counsel of the woman prophet Huldah (2 Kings 22). My goodnes,did she give them an earful to take back to the king! Even Jeremiah, a contemporary of both the prophet Huldah and King Josiah, appreciated women’s instincts when he summoned the women of Judah to rail and speak up, “Call for the mourning women to come…” Too much is going on in the world today without any significant comment from thinking women of faith.

The recent incident surrounding shock jock Don Imus’ disparaging remarks against the Rutgers University women’s basketball team was the epiphany that got my attention to speak up. Of the scores of interviews I heard denouncing Imus’ sexist and racist remarks against the black female members of the team, very few of those interviewed for comment on the implications of his remarks for black women were black women themselves! My no nonsense friend Louisville Courier columnist Betty Baye put it aptly when she said, “Black women were insulted, but the media rushed to Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson…Are [we] so invisible that [we] don’t even get to speak first about [our] own pain?”

I’ve spent a life time writing about women’s inner healing, and I will continue to touch upon that topic because there remains lots of healing that needs to be done. With this new blog I have the chance now to comment on a wider array of interests. I get to talk about some of the issues and events in our culture that contribute to our hurt as women, and our continued struggle for selfhood as people of color. Best of all, I also get to share with my readers the many people, events, and books that bring me inspiration …and just may be the voice of God.